Weather Delays for IFR Training between Langley and Victoria

Poor weather for a flight

The weather this last week has shut down instrument training flights.  The minimums set by the school are 2000 feet and three miles of visibility for training and this is a very reasonable idea.  With surface temperatures at 4 to 6 degrees the freezing level has been between 3000 and 5000 feet.  

Given that a reasonable altitude over the straight is about 6000 feet (so you could reasonably get to shore with engine difficulty) this would put an instrument flight in full IMC above the freezing level.  This is, of course, a full stop decision.  Wait for better weather.

Interestingly enough, it would have been quite simple almost every day this week to fly with visual flight rules between Langley and Victoria.  The weather conditions would have allowed a VFR aircraft to fly around the clouds most days.  If you are out of the clouds you are out of the icing and so it is not a problem.  Another example of having another tool providing more choices.

I settled for converting one of the booked training flights into simulator time.  Of the 40 hours of logged time on instrument rules twenty can be from a simulator.  I still have several hours of room for simulator time.  SkyQuest Aviation has a simulator that is certified for logging time toward a rating but it doesn't have sixties vintage Comanche 250.  In order to get something with similar performance we had to use the light twin that comes with the simulator.

The standard departure was excellent, the hold over Whatcom routine, and the approach to ILS/DME 09 at Victoria was smooth.  However, the non-precision approach on the return to Abbotsford did not work out so well.  I got behind the aircraft for a few minutes near beacon passage and in that time managed to drift high and north.  That particular approach would have certainly ended up missed.

Tracking an NDB is imprecise.  More practice in the actual aircraft and in the simulator at home will do the trick.  My issue seems to be more with stabilizing a smooth descent that matches the plate profile without using vertical guidance.  I could probably work out several scenarios and note them down near the checklist.

There will also be more waiting for better weather.  Which can be frustrating in Vancouver in January.